Picking Wildflowers for Naruto
by juntomatsu
Summary: Just random oneshots by yours truely...wrn: contains onesided hinanaru...very hinacentric...and contains lots of fluff and some mild angst...nothing too serious
1. Picking Wlidflowers

_juntomatsu: -cough cough-...this one was sssoooo long...sheesh i didn't think that it would ever end...-chuckles-..so this is just a doodle...duh...no but really...dream a little dream is another doodle of mine and...uh...i just wanted to do this...it's just a little...uh...not scene...i'll just go with part...from it that i felt like drawing out...and just to be nice i posted the little part at the top so that you don't have to subject yourself to reading it...it is a sasu-hina doodle...and i know that some people don't like them as a couple...even though i do...i'm a sasu-hina freak...-grins-..._

_disclaimer:...Naruto is not mine...never will be...not even in my dreams is it mine...-sighs-..._

_warning(s): so just to be safe...i'm throwing out my norm...au-ish-ness...because i kinda...umm...-grins sheepishly-...i have no idea what i was going to claim...oh well...this is au-ish...and some occ-ness...and as always...i am not great at grammar, spelling...be ware...ah and i'm not sure about the age thing...the third is still alive here...and it's before they are put into their teams...so lets go with eleven-ish...although that may be too old...maybe ten-ish...you know...you'd think that i'd plan this more in advance...like their ages and all -shrugs-...ah and this is a hinanaru-one-sided-ish doodle...so if i haven't confused you into a stupor...plz continue..._

_O.o"_

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_Dream a Little Dream…_

_The Scrapbook…_

…_she noticed something small and yellow had fallen onto the floor between her legs. It was a pressed flower…Hinata reflected on the reason and the day that she picked it. She had found it growing on the side of the road, after flower arranging class one day. Always unwanted by many, a weed growing rapidly and untamed. It was thought to be a bother and many people would always try and destroy it but it always managed to grow back just as beautiful as before, just like Naruto._

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_Picking Wildflowers… for Naruto…_

Today was just another day for Hinata; she rose with the sun, as she did since she was three; even though she didn't really have to any more; her father no longer trained with her, his focus more on her little sister, Hanabi, since stating that Hinata was not worth the time to train.

She didn't really mind, well… at least that's what she told everyone, or would have told them had anyone asked, but no one in the clan would; her father's verbal decisions were close to an unwritten clan law and no one in the clan would dare openly question his word.

And very few outside the clan, say the Third, knew what was happening behind the closed Hyuuga manor doors, so either way it didn't really matter.

So if she wanted to complain no one would be around to listen, but Hinata, no matter what happened, was not the type to complain, after all there were others who had it much worse than she did.

She always tried to look for the good things that were going for her; like at least she had a family to come home to, she knew at least two in her class that didn't, so no…she would not complain.

But it wasn't always this way.

She could remember a time when she would drown in her own self-pity, about being all but disowned by her father, simply because she was not a genius when it came to her fighting skills.

No matter what she did she could never please her father; her reflexes were always slow, her form was always sloppy, and her Gentle Fist was too weak when compared to her sister, who was five years her junior.

Then, perhaps by fate, she was placed in the same academy class as him, Uzumaki Naruto, and unknown at the time to her, he would become her inspiration.

Although at first she never really noticed him, because of her self-pity, she was always lost in her own little world. She never really paid that much attention to her classes, not like when she was younger, and her parents were proud to call her their daughter.

She could remember his lack of elementary shinobi abilities produced taunting from his fellow classmates, with the exclusion of her and one other, an Uchiha Sasuke.

But gradually, through his continuous failures in class she began to see him, but it wasn't the failures that caught her attention, although they did aide it, no… it was his constant ability to stand back up with his head held high and move onwards; never looking back and dwelling on what he couldn't do.

And many of times when this happened she would always see him, alone after school working to perfect a technique he couldn't get or a skill he didn't fully grasp.

It was this that had somehow broken through her little narrow world, thus starting her attraction to him.

She wanted to be like that; someone that could stand up on her own with her head held high after falling, knowing that she did her best, but most of all, her father knowing that she did her best and was proud of her for it.

It was then that she vowed to do her best and never give up, like Naruto, so that her father and the others of her clan would finally see her, and acknowledge her as a capable future kunoichi.

It seems like a life-time ago that she made that vowed to herself and her progress has been painfully slow.

And recently, although her father never truly ignored her presence, he never really seemed to acknowledge it either, and this began to worry her.

She sighed as she stopped her thoughts there to stretch, and then opened her curtains to welcome the new day, then continued with her morning rituals; performing all the morning necessities, afterwards heading off to train alone in a small secluded area, a few minutes from her house before class started.

After about an hour and an half, she decided to stop, it was time to return home, so that she could take a quick shower and grab a new outfit, then maybe something from the kitchen for breakfast.

Hinata left her house and walked slowly in the direction of the academy, she wondered what they would be learning today. One of the senseis had mentioned something about a special separate training session for the boys and the girls today. She was excited secretly and couldn't wait to see what it was.

She finally arrived at the academy and sighed quietly, it was crowded; mornings were always crowded.

Her fellow academy-mates chatting away with each other in the hallways made getting to class hard at times. Slowly she fought her way to her class.

Yet it seemed that trying to get to her classroom always seemed to be the hardest of all, perhaps it was because she had the Uchiha Sasuke, the number one rookie of their year and the number one heartthrob of what seemed to be the entire village of Konoha, in her class.

And because of said number one heartthrob, girls from other classes tended to hang out in front of the classroom, trying in vain to catch his attention, and Hinata could see that today was no different. She could make out about twenty-five to thirty heads, in the crowd of fan-girls lurking about her classroom door.

After about fifteen minutes of trying to speak to the horde of fan-girls blocking her way, Hinata finally made it through with the help of Naruto. Of course he didn't really mean to help her; he was just trying to get to class too. She wanted to thank him today but as always she lost her voice around him, losing her chance.

Hinata sighed as she silently followed him.

As she walked by the Uchiha's fan-girls, Hinata couldn't help but over hear some the spiteful and hateful comments directed towards Naruto. She slowly turned to see his reaction but he didn't seem to care, he's anger seemed to be focused on the Uchiha instead, because he suddenly stormed over to Uchiha's desk and started a glaring and one-sided shouting contest.

She wanted to say something to them for him, he's never done or said anything wrong to them and yet they always treated him so badly; yes, today she was going to stand up for him and let them know that they were not better than him and had no right to treat him so.

She turned around to face the group of girls, and took a deep breath, "A-Ano…" her vocal box tightened, as she misplaced her short live courage, dying before it even had a chance.

She couldn't do it.

Why?

Why, did she always lose faith in herself when she needed it most?

Hinata looked at the Uchiha's fan-girls once more, it seemed that they didn't even hear her; as she leisurely glanced about the classroom; it seemed that no one did.

She slowly took her seat and bowed her head with shame.

She sighed again.

Yes, today was just another typical day for Hinata, as she sat quietly in the back watching Naruto continue his earsplitting rant towards Uchiha, she could feel her self-pity rising.

Yet she quickly snuffed it out before it would ignite completely, no… she swore that she would not be that way again, that that Hinata was dead in the past, and she would stay there.

Her gaze found Naruto again as Haruno Sakura now began her daily assault on Naruto's head for simply taking up Uchiha's time.

If only she could have just a fourth of his confidence, then she would no doubt be a stronger person, just then sensei entered the room, stopping not only Haruno battering Naruto close to death but Hinata's mental reprimand on her earlier failure.

The day continue on as it always did, learning new techniques and training skills that would help her to become a better kunoichi, things that would help her in the future, during which she would steal glances of Naruto, who was either drooling in his sleep or glaring at Uchiha.

After a few hours in the classroom, the class was then divided up. Hinata smiled to herself this was what she was waiting for.

The boys left with Iruka and a few other senseis for their special lesson. While the girls took off with a few of the female sensei's, heading towards an open field not two minutes from the academy. She couldn't wait to see what special training they were going to get today.

Once they arrived to the field, they were then told what they were going to learn today. Flower arranging; they were told, apparently it was to help them with their undercover missions, they needed to know how to blend in as a lady.

Flower arranging, she frown slightly.

Something that all kunoichi needed to learn, her frown deepened.

Hinata didn't really see what, why or how arranging flowers could help her in the field, that and it was highly unlikely that she would ever be sent a secret mission because of the fact that she was a Hyuuga, her eyes were a dead giveaway. She would probably be best at scouting missions if anything, but then again who was she to argue with the school officials, if they said that she needed to learn this then so be it, after all she really was not one to complain. She listened as the senseis then went over what type of plants to stay away from and which ones were ok to use in their projects.

They were then told to make their own arrangements in an hour then to report back once it was up. She silently started to gather some flowers.

After about fifteen minutes she looked at her bouquet it was small and seemed to clash, she sighed and then heard one of the sensei's complement Yamanaka about her arrangement. She snuck a quick look at it and it was beautiful, who knew that simple everyday wildflowers could make such a thing, really who knew?

Hinata actually wished that she had Yamanaka Ino's skill in flower arranging, she was a true mastermind when it came to this, and her knowledge about the different types of flowers was astonishing. Apparently not only did she know about how to properly position flowers that her family carried in their shop to sell but these wildflowers as well because she seemed to do it effortlessly and it still looked like a piece of art, Hinata simply adored Yamanaka's work.

She quietly walked off determined to find some more flowers; she needed to improve her monotonous bouquet, maybe if she added more colorful blossoms, yet she could see that she wasn't the only one that had that thought, as she was soon joined by others.

Roving away from the others without realizing it, she didn't really know what she was looking for, she just wanted something that would make her arrangement noticeable; no, she wanted her arrangement to be prominent, like Yamanaka's.

She continued to look around, focusing solely on anything that would be 'eye-catching' to add in her collection.

After about twenty minutes of searching she couldn't find anything; everything here was plain, ordinary, and common in her eye; Hinata sighed, there was nothing worth anything here; she couldn't find anything here that would spice her collection up, guess that in the end this lesson was a failure.

Frustrated with herself, on yet another failure today, she closed her eyes and sighed, nothing seemed to be going right for her today… no, she would not give up yet. If she didn't understand how to do something then she just needed to try harder to understand it and improve.

Yet in the end her arrangement was nothing special just a few wildflowers that she managed to find and tie together the best she could, before the hour was up…but luckily she was not the only one that seems to have no talent in this area of training. Thankfully the senseis had fully expected this and were not angry or disappointed; they simply explained that they wanted to see what 'raw' skills were out there.

And now that everyone had some vague ideal they were now going to go into more details, and the girls would be allowed to make another one afterwards.

This time it was a lot better, she had to admit, even though it would never be as good as Yamanaka's, Hinata was still proud of her work, and she decided that she would give it to her mother if her father allowed it.

After the class was over Hinata had to confess she enjoyed working with the flowers, maybe after today she would speak with her father and see if he would allow her a small garden in the courtyard of the manor, she would just have to wait to catch him in an excellent frame of mind; maybe after his afternoon tea.

Class was then dismissed for the rest of the day.

While walking home, she sighted a small cluster of yellow wildflowers growing on the side of the road near a fence, and she smiled, until today she never really noticed that they seem to grow everywhere.

As Hinata continued to stare smiling at that thought, she noticed a lady had walked out of her fence and frowned then she started pulling the flowers up, murmuring something about taxing weeds, rapidly growing out of control and not good for anything but messing up her yard.

Then something caught her attention.

She spotted her blonde inspiration across the way, apparently picking up were he left off earlier this morning, his one-sided glaring and shouting contest at Uchiha, while said Uchiha just 'Hn-ed', crossed his arms and shot Naruto a death glare, and Haruno Sakura as well as other fans-girls of his loomed behind Naruto waiting to strike in Uchiha's defense; although Hinata seriously doubted that the number one rookie needed to be defended against anything or anyone.

And speaking of Uchiha, everything that she had heard about him suggested that he was a difficult person to get along with and that he always looked down on everyone, she really couldn't see why anyone would be interested in someone like that.

As she quietly watched the scene play out, Hinata heard the same 'flower-pulling' woman sneer about Naruto's upsetting attitude, that someone needed to teach him a lesson, among other things, shocked at why the woman say such a thing like that when she didn't really know Naruto, all she could do was stare at the woman.

Hinata slowly bend down and pick up a single yellow flower that the woman had carelessly cast aside on the sidewalk. She never noticed it before but Naruto and this wildflower seemed to have a lot in common.

They were both 'unwanted' and strongly 'un-liked' for some strange reason.

They both were untamable, randomly springing up, no matter how or who seemed to trample upon them they both endured.

And every time, no matter what happened when the wildflowers appeared again they was just as beautiful, if not more so.

She blushed a deep crimson, comparing Naruto to a wildflower was somewhat silly, but still it was, for her the perfect comparison.

She watched as Naruto's head was assaulted by Haruno's fist, causing him to fall to the ground whining about the unfairness of it all, as Uchiha suddenly disappeared much to his fan club's dismay; she proudly beamed inwardly as she held her little yellow wildflower, no she was not worried because she knew that Naruto would be alright because he was not easily destroyed and would endure no matter what happened to him.

She turned and quietly walked away heading home.

Once she entered her room she found her scrapbook that her mother had just given to her, it held all of her precious memories and memoirs dating back to when she was a young baby, and now she gave it one more to hold as she carefully pressed the evening primrose in-between its pages, maybe one day she would be courageous enough to give it to him and tell him how much he means to her.

Hinata smiled, as she remembered her vow…no…there was no maybe.

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_juntomatsu:...-drooling-...i told you it was long...of course this wasn't really what i had wanted...-shrugs- but what can i say...it just happened...took a life of its own and all...juntomatsu was just along for the ride...-snickers-...well...i hope that you enjoyed it and all...truthfully i didn't really know where to stick this doodle...because it goes along with my lame dream a little dream...but it's a hinanaru-one-sided-ish- thing...so...ah yeah...who knows...well same as always...review if you want...don't if you don't...or flame it you choose...doesn't really matter to me...either way...thanks again for reading...-glomps all readers- and i hope to see you again...(not really but you know what i mean-grins-)_


	2. Over Time

_juntomatsu:...gawd...i'm such a freak'n doodle-bug...i'm thinking that i should change my pen name to_ _the doodle-bug...(da-da-daaaa)...that was a battle-cry for the doodle-bug (incase you were wondering)...i kid...but still darn plot-bunnies...it's not my fault please don't shun me...-begs on her knees-...what...no wait don't leave... come back...-sits and pouts-...i kid again... so...uh...yeah...another one-shot...doodled by yours truly...-chuckles-..._

_disclaimer: -weeps-...juntomatsu doesn't own Naruto or it's characters...-shouts-...there are you happy now...just had to bust my bubble of happiness...-stomps her foot and runs out crying-...(sheesh...i'm such a cry-baby tonight)_

_warning(s): -pokes her head back in-...ah ha...uh yeah...this is a one-shot...hina-naru-one-sided...and as always -starting to sound like a broken record here this fic contains au, ooc-ness, bad grammar, horrible spelling, fluff...(beware the fluff)...and no plot...so there...if you are a thrill seeker…craving action, death, suspense...remember the no plot warning...i was not lyin-chuckles-...then read on-_

_O.o"_

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Over time

She was lost in her thoughts as she continued to walk silently, enjoying the nearing of another peaceful night in Konoha.

She looked over to her side and spotted her orange and black clad friend, scampering up to her.

She smiled to herself; she and Naruto had come accustomed to meeting up in the park at least once a week, followed by dinner at Ichiraku's and then a nightly stroll around Konoha.

She smiled once more, this time it was directed towards the young out of breath blonde shinobi.

"Evening, Hinata-chan… sorry that I'm late but that Obaa-chan wouldn't let me leave until she proof-read my debriefing," he then puffed out his cheeks, " really, I can't understand why everyone else gets to give a verbal report but I have to hand in a written one!".

Hinata chuckled; poor Naruto-kun.

"Ah…Naruto-kun, perhaps she's only trying to help you out, you being a possible candidate and seeing how the Hokage's position always deals a lot of reports that need to be written and filed …" she let it trail off there, surely he could put the two together.

He smiled "Thanks Hinata-chan, you always…" he then grimaced; his face turning red, "Aaahhh..." Naruto abruptly started to jump up and down, shaking his fist in the direction of the Hokage's office, "She just made me do her report for her so she wouldn't have to, that lazy old obaa-chan, just wait until I see her again!"

Hinata laughed softly into her hand, she's always known that Naruto was a lot smarter than most people gave him credit for, granted he wasn't a genius, he just needed a 'push' in the right direction every once and a while.

Naruto continued to mumble under his breath at the unfairness of it all as Hinata silently walked beside him, suddenly caught up in a thought.

How long have they been doing this, she wondered silently and when did it become 'normal' for her to talk to him like this?

A little more than a year ago, after his return, did she not squeal and hide, not ready to see him again after all that time and then ended up fainting because the experience was just to overwhelming for her when he ended up finding her?

And did she not try to avoid him afterwards clearly embarrassed by her actions, or lack of?

It wasn't until a few months later that she spoke to him again, this time she wasn't fast enough to 'hide' from him with out him noticing.

Apparently he had been searching for her.

She could still remember that day just like it was yesterday.

At first she could feel her heart beat a mile a minute at the thought of Naruto searching for her.

Of course at the time she had imagined him coming to tell her that he always cared for her and was madly in love with her and only her then they would live happily ever after, so naturally her heart and her stomach were in a race to see which could fluttered about the most.

As he stood there trying to explain the reason he was looking for with such a troubled expression on his features, her mind gradually caught up with everything and she managed to calm herself down- modestly.

Why was he looking for her? Was it a mission? If not, then maybe the Hokage was looking for her? Maybe it was about her request to study some medical techniques like Sakura.

No that wouldn't explain why he was anxious; so then why was Naruto acting like he was uneasy about something, he never acted like this…unless it was the first thing that popped into her head!

She internally squealed with delight.

This was it; he had finally seen her more than just a precious person, he had realized that she was his precious person just like he was hers. This was the moment she was waiting for all these years.

But then her heart fell into the pit of her stomach and shattered into a million pieces as she heard the reason, he want her to help him to get Sakura to notice him as more than just a friend.

Apparently he had been trying over the months to get her to notice him and he felt like nothing was happening, and even though he had been rejected in the past by her this time it was different and he didn't know why. He claimed that this time, every time that it had happened, his heart felt a twinge and his soul empty.

Of course, she said that if he needed help then she would be more than willing too, even though she didn't really want to, every bit of her shattered heart opposed to it, but the majority of her mind reasoned she would want him to be happy even if it wasn't with her.

However there was a small part in her mind that refused to let him go, and in this diminutive part it was confident that she still had a chance; if they spent more time together; becoming closer then he would finally fall for her.

And as she continued to gaze at him and half listen to his heartache she silently ignored her last thought, what kind of friend was she?

Then just as he suddenly appeared in front of her, needing someone to talk too; dropping his heart shattering bomb and started discharging all his concerns and anguishes on the matter to her, he unexpectedly stopped, smiled and hugged her while thanking her for her help, told her he needed to be going, then asked her to pick a day that they could meet up to continue this 'talk' and then walked merrily down the street.

To say that Hinata was confused was an understatement. She was completely perplexed; she didn't remember really giving any counsel to him in the matter.

She sighed, of course she couldn't blame him, he never knew about her 'crush' on him, she lost her courage every time she tried to tell him and to him she was nothing but a good friend.

In the aftermath her mind finally received it's chance to catch up; Naruto had told her to pick a day in which they would meet up at Ichiraku's and discuss his 'problem', she simply chose Saturday because it was the day after her and her assigned teammates were scheduled to return from their mission.

That following Saturday they met up for dinner and to begin discussing his 'problem', although talking was the last thing on their minds, Naruto was doing nothing but eating ten bowls of ramen while Hinata blushed every shade of red, meekly poking at the contents of her one bowl.

After that failed attempt at discussing his 'problem', they decided that maybe taking a walk would be less 'distracting' in which for Naruto it meant no ramen in front of him, for Hinata it meant that she could focus on something else besides her failed long-time childhood crush.

That was much better for the both of them; they were able to focus somewhat on what they needed to, although now that she thought back on it, neither one really had a clue at relationships, both having never been in one before.

When Hinata was younger she didn't have time for boyfriends or anything else for that matter, since she was three her father strictly trained her during her free time. Because she was always so busy training she didn't have very many friends and she was always shy around others.

And as for Naruto, she thought, even though he was the exact opposite of the shy type he didn't any friends it seemed, and never did… until recently and even now there were still a lot of villagers and fellow shinobi that seem to have a strong dislike for him.

Yet, somehow… someway two outcasts had started to try to woo Sakura; well one wooed while the other did what she did best, gathered information unobserved on said pink-haired kunoichi and after a few months things seemed to be turning around for Naruto.

Sakura was slowly coming around. It was small things at first such as a warm smile instead of a fist to the head; a light chuckle instead of a horrible near death experience for the blonde shinobi.

And gradually over time Hinata's and Naruto's effort paid off, because soon the cherry blossom and Konoha loudest shinobi became an official couple.

And to this day Naruto still constantly thanks Hinata for helping him; she doubts even now that she had much of anything to do with it.

And as she calmly entered Ichiraku's behind Naruto she came to realize something.

She didn't recognize when but slowly she came to grasp that her adolescent dreams and fantasies about her childhood crush were only that, and would never be anything more.

Hinata paused at that thought, she didn't know if she should be happy or sad.

She was both she had to admit.

Happy and sad both because in a way that she finally understood this and knew that it was time to move on and that she could move on with nothing holding her back. There were no what if's … she knew that even though she was a precious person to Naruto, his heart was not hers.

She smiled cheerlessly.

"Oi, Hinata-chan what kind of noodles do you want to try today?" Naruto asked jolting her out of her gloomy thoughts.

She smiled and shrugged her shoulders, "Meso is fine for tonight, Naruto-kun."

As Naruto order for the both of them, she took her normal seat beside him.

Her smile brightened as she watched her best friend argue with the owner about a new type of ramen that he heard about.

No matter just because all of her dreams and fantasies didn't come true, some of it did and for that she would always be grateful and cherish every moment of it.

_O.o"_

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_juntomatsu here again...see told you no plot...i'm a plot less doodler...(and i sorry that Naruto and hinata didn't end up together)...-snickers-...ah i think that this also ties into my dream a little dream au although i'm thinking that that's enough of that...hmmm...-grins- maybe not...i think that i favor that au just a little too much...-nods her head- can't be healthy...can it?...well plz review or don't or you can flame...and as always prepare yourselves...-glomps all readers-...ah well off i go...ack no another freak'n bunny...must run away...juntoma-...i mean doodle-bug dash...-dashes out-_

_(ah and i am kidding about changing my pen name...-notices doubtful stares- no really i am...juntomatsu will always be juntomatsu...no really -whimpers- why don't you believe me...)_


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